Summit County ski resorts prepare for the holiday

<b>Special to the Daily/Keystone Resort</b>Keystone Resort snowmaking and grooming teams are hard at work preparing for holiday skier traffic this weekend. The resort now offers 170 acres of open terrain.

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Local ski areas are gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend making preparations to open additional terrain and features, with Keystone's tubing hill and night skiing operations slated to open today.The ski area will also open The Alley, Dercum's Dash and Ina's Way trails bringing the terrain tally to 170 acres with access to nine trails and seven lifts.Schoolmarm will be open top to bottom with access to Mountain House and Peru lift. Keystone A51 Terrain Park will have A-51 lift access, night skiing and riding will begin and tubing at Adventure Point.Breckenridge Ski Resort officials announced the opening of Peak 9 slated for today, adding the QuickSilver Super6, Peak 8 SuperConnect, and the Village Carpets giving access to Silverthorne, King's Way, Lowest Sundown Access, Crosscut, Lower Sawmill and Spruce trails.Officials plan to open additional terrain on Peak 9 and Peak 8, including a double jump line in the Park Lane Terrain Park for today as well.Peak 9 will be open with full base area services, including ski & ride school and on-mountain dining at Ten Mile Station and The Maggie.With the added terrain, Breckenridge Ski Resort will offer Thanksgiving skiers and riders 145 total acres for the weekend.After opening the American Flyer Lift Nov. 17, Copper Mountain has six lifts running and 129 acres of skiable terrain including: American Eagle with access to the Bouncer, Main Vein and Rhapsody trails; the newly opened American Flyer with access to the High Point trail; the Excelerator Lift with access to the Ptarmigan trail; the Gem and Pitchfork lifts with access to the Green Acres beginner's area and the Easy Rider lift with access to the learning area as well.Loveland Ski Area tallies are also up to 123 skiable acres open to holiday traffic.

Breckenridge Ski Resort will host a Thanksgiving dinner at Sevens Restaurant, located at the base of Peak 7. The Thanksgiving Prix Fixe menu includes the traditional holiday spread, according to a press release. The resort will also give holiday goers an option for Black Friday along Main Street with various deals at shops around town. At Keystone Resort, Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the season's Kidtopia programming with '80s-themed tubing tonight, Meet and Greet with Keystone's Ski Patrol Avalanche Dogs Thursday, the Riperoo parade Saturday, and Keystone's house DJ at Dercum Square ice rink Sunday. Keystone's Kidtopia programming, newly offered as a daily service this season, is expanding from special event weekends to daily programming all season long in tow with the ski area's offer of free skiing for kids under 13 with the purchase of lodging at the resort. "Keystone offers a family ski experience unmatched in the industry," said John Buhler, vice president and general manager of the resort. "With the introduction of a Kids Ski Free offer that's really restriction free, we're letting families travel as their schedule allows, granting them convenient and affordable access to our world-class resort and taking Keystone's commitment to families to the next level."The new Kids Ski Free offer bolsters the ski area's numerous efforts targeting families. Keystone has developed several programs and facilities this year that cater to young skiers and riders. In Keystone Village, the annual holiday light installation kicks off Thanksgiving Day.Copper's seventh annual Gobbler Chase Snowshoe Race is slated for Saturday. All proceeds from the race will go toward the Copper Environmental Foundation, supporting youth environmental and education projects in the community. All race participants should plan to meet in Burning Stones Plaza at the Race Registration Tent prior to the start of the race at 11 a.m. The approximate 5k course layout will take the participants toward Union Creek, through the beautiful Copper wilderness on the Colorado Trail, and eventually back into Burning Stones.